Consultancy and research

Social media is currently the quickest and most reliable form of customer contact, according to new research.

The study, from eDigitalResearch, found that around 80% of consumers who have recently contacted a brand through social media platforms heard from the company within 12 hours, compared to just over one third (37%) who heard back within the same time frame when contacting via email.

The results come from eDigitalResearch’s first white paper into the overall customer experience, examining customer loyalty, as well as experiences across channels.

The study also found that:

• Customer loyalty is low across all UK industries. Supermarkets have the highest levels of customer loyalty with just over half (53%) of respondents saying that they feel loyal towards a brand in the grocery sector.

• Companies are not satisfying customers with the speed of compliant resolution and response. On average, the results show that companies are taking longer to reply to those customers who make a complaint compared to those that send positive feedback.